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Time to Take Action — A Major Attack on Bicycle Funding
Well, we knew September was going to be busy…and sure enough we’re seeing the opening moves in a major attack on funding for bike projects and programs.
This evening, the President talks to the nation about jobs and infrastructure, and he’ll likely repeat his plea for Congress to pass a “clean” extension to the Federal transportation program. The House Republican response includes an explicit demand that funding for bicycling and walking infrastructure be stripped out of the program.
Contact your Senators now to save bike funding.
Quick bit of background: the current transportation bill that funds highway, transit and bike/pedestrian improvements across the country basically expires at the end of this month. Congress either has to write a new law (highly unlikely) or agree to continue or extend the existing program for a set period until they write a new long-term law for the next five or six years. And, they can either pass a “clean” extension – not changing anything, just continuing what we’ve had since 2005 – or they might try to change a few things along the way.
Senator Coburn (OK) has said he won’t agree to an extension unless funding for bike projects is stripped out. Representatives Boehner and Cantor have basically said the same thing in the House. Yes, folks, they are willing to hold the entire transportation program hostage – infrastructure spending and millions of real jobs – to get rid of bike projects.
Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved their extension bill. It’s clean. Most likely, Coburn will try to force a vote on the floor of the Senate next week to strip out the popular transportation enhancements program…which funds the lion’s share of bike and pedestrian projects around the country. So, if you’ve ridden on a bike trail or bike lanes, or used a bike rack on the front of a bus in the last few years…the chances are you’ve seen the program in action. And if Coburn, Cantor and Boehner succeed, we’ll see a dramatic drop-off in bicycling safety improvements.
Why would they do this, I hear you ask. After all, bike projects create jobs; bike projects improve safety; more bicyclists means less congestion, cleaner air, less oil consumption, fitter and healthier American’s. It’s baffling. It’s not like the transportation program is going to be cut by the amount they strip out for bike funding…no, the money still gets spent but it will likely buy us another mile or two of freeway instead of thousands of small-scale, labor-intensive bicycling and walking improvements.
Contact your Senators now to save bike funding.
Equally, the enhancements program is hardly eating up a massive chunk of the transportation program. Even though Cantor and Boehner like to leave the impression that it’s ten percent of the transportation program…it isn’t. Not even close. It’s ten percent of one of dozens of programs that make up the overall program. In fact, enhancements account for barely one percent of Federal transportation funds.
Another myth you’ll hear – most likely from Coburn’s camp – is that states will still be able to spend their funds on bicycling projects if they choose to do so. While that’s technically true, the reality is that most states will stop spending a dime on bike projects overnight. Utah has already stopped their program in anticipation; they just can’t wait!
We have to stop them. We need to save cycling! Go to our on-line advocacy center right now to contact your members of Congress. Tell them you support continued dedicated funding for bicycling and walking projects, and you support a clean extension to the transportation bill.
Andy Clarke
League President
Andy Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
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September 8th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
i’m curious to hear the thoughts of the ‘how-to-talk-to-Repubs-about-biking’ guy on this latest turn of the cranks.
September 8th, 2011 at 10:05 pm
These lawmakers better come to Wisconsin and read this article in today’s paper , if they don’t think bicycling is vital to the economy. Bicycling has become my main source of transportation to work and other places along with over 4,600 others.
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110908/APC0101/109080473/Bicyclists-top-million-commuting-miles
September 9th, 2011 at 4:35 am
Well that not one single Republican that will say no to this bill. For all of yall that Bike and vote Republican u are to blame.
September 9th, 2011 at 11:06 am
[...] on the Network today: The League of American Bicyclists is putting out an action alert to all its supporters after a House committee yesterday stripped all [...]
September 9th, 2011 at 11:51 am
[...] The League of American Bicyclists has a handy link that makes it easy for you to get in contact with your Senator and tell them to continue funding the Transportation Enhancements. Get over there and Take Action. Advertisement LD_AddCustomAttr("AdOpt", "0"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Origin", "other"); LD_AddCustomAttr("LangId", "1"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Autotag", "politics"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Autotag", "technology"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "advocacy"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "announcements"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "commuting"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "law"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "politics"); LD_AddSlot("wpcom_below_post"); LD_GetBids(); Share this:FacebookTwitterStumbleUponDiggLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
September 9th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
It’s not completely baffling when you think about it. OIL companies make gazillions of dollars, car companies are much bigger, employ thousands of workers, and both need to keep (mostly) republican shareholders happy. These two entities alone will try and do everything in their power to LOBBY to make bicycling difficult and inconvenient, if not outright impossible.
September 9th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Take a moment to read “America Needs Complete Streets” by Dan Burden and Todd Litman. It shows that we cannot afford NOT to invest in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Visit http://www.walklive.org and it is under the “Resources” Tab or cut and paste the following link:
http://www.walklive.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/ITE-Complete-Streets-Article-April-2011-Burden-Litman.pdf
September 10th, 2011 at 9:59 am
Aside from some people’s consistently held belief that the bicycle is a toy, there is the actual political philosophy on the Right that bicycling simply isn’t a Federal issue. We have to convince them otherwise or take our case to state and local government–especially local. But as Andy said, we have not been particularly successful on the state level in many states, such as my own.
The Federal funds have been good cost-sharing carrots but one man’s sweet carrot is another man’s Federal boondoggle. Tough fights ahead. If we have a Federal issue or two, its got to be pushed with hard data. Imported oil dependence. Bad physical fitness leading to huge health care costs and vulnerabilities, as that Republican President Eisenhower clearly saw. Both potentially national security issues.
Perhaps we can agree to keep Federal funding in place for educational programs and key infrastructure that actually improves transportation efficiency and thus saves money–the challenge is to document the bigger savings. We could voluntarily give up some of the transportation museums and nice, but non-essential scenic stuff, etc., although I suspect those are really being used as wedge issues by Messrs. Cantor et al.
This morning’s Albuquerque Journal tells me that Congress is threatening to move money from environmental cleanup at Los Alamos sites into more weapons work. That too is tragic. One of the reasons we have such a public backlash towards all things nuclear (not just bombs) is because of the legacy of contamination and unresolved waste issues the Federal laboratories and our nuclear power plants. We have a consistent inability to solve these problems. Not because they are non-solvable, but because we can’t agree on acceptable and affordable compromise solutions. There are no silver bullets here.
Once again, Congress is thinking only of tomorrow and not of the long haul. Please do call your Congressional delegation. And please, rather than insulting our friends on the right, work with them. They ride bikes too.
September 10th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
[...] Time to Take Action — A Major Attack on Bicycle Funding [...]
September 10th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
[...] League of American Bicyclists and the American Bikes Coalition have both protested the Republican proposal to eliminate bicycle [...]
September 11th, 2011 at 11:32 am
[...] http://www.bikeleague.org/blog/2011/09/get-ready-to-take-action-a-major-attack-on-bicycle-funding/ [...]
September 11th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Spreading the word:
http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2011/09/eric-cantor-olive-branch-to-obama-based.html
September 12th, 2011 at 9:08 am
[...] Bikeleague.org Blog » Blog Archive » Time to Take Action — A Major Attack on Bicycle Funding. Eco World Content From Across The Internet. Featured on EcoPressed Google reveals [...]
September 12th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
I am a bike rider, yet we are on the verge of an economic meltdown as we borrow or print half of the budget and have trillions in unfunded liabilities. Thie is a luxury item and needs to be trimmed just like all federal spending
September 13th, 2011 at 12:01 am
Ronn, if a bike facility on its face is a luxury item, so is having the USN in the Med and Straits of Hormuz protecting sea lanes for those oil tankers that feed our addiction. The trick is to pick and choose among public works projects so we fund those that have real bang for the buck, and not fund those projects that add fluff but no substance. But as I said earlier, one man’s meat is another man’s poison.
September 13th, 2011 at 2:29 am
With the runaway health crisis in the USA this is no time to pull back on our cycling infrastructure development. Presently I am enjoying the many roadway improvements and off road pathways.Germany, Switzerland and France all have plenty. All one need to do is look around at the girth on most of the citizenry an it is obvious what a good diet and daily exercise provides.
Pay now, for transportation alternatives or Pay later with higher health care costs !
September 13th, 2011 at 2:30 am
With the runaway health crisis in the USA this is no time to pull back on our cycling infrastructure development. Presently I am enjoying the many roadway improvements and off road pathways.Germany, Switzerland and France all have plenty. All one need to do is look around at the girth on most of the citizenry an it is obvious what a good diet and daily exercise provides.
Pay now, for transportation alternatives or Pay later with higher health care costs !
September 14th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
[...] get from Point A to Point B. Nope, only commies and terrorists do weird shit like that. And thus, you end up with the following standoff: Senator Coburn (OK) has said he won’t agree to an extension unless funding for bike projects is [...]
September 14th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
[...] get from Point A to Point B. Nope, only commies and terrorists do weird shit like that. And thus, you end up with the following standoff: Senator Coburn (OK) has said he won’t agree to an extension unless funding for bike projects is [...]